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Thursday, April 16, 2015

Vatican City, 16 April 2015 (VIS) –
This morning the prelates of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops
were received in audience by Pope Francis at the end of their “ad
Limina” visit. In the written discourse he handed to them, the Holy
Father writes that for many of them this visit to Rome will recall
the time spent in the Italian capital during their preparation for
ordination to the priesthood. “The many seminarians studying in
this city, like the numerous seminarians in your own country, are an
eloquent sign of God’s goodness to the universal Church and to your
dioceses”.

“While the seeds of a priestly
vocation are sown long before a man arrives at the seminary, first in
the heart of the family”, he notes, “it pertains to seminary
formators to nurture the growth of these vocations. For this reason,
it is imperative that seminarians’ goodwill and earnest desires be
met with a formation that is humanly sound, spiritually deep,
intellectually rich, and pastorally diverse. I am aware of the
challenges which this entails, and I encourage you to strengthen your
efforts, individually within your Dioceses and collectively in your
Episcopal Conference, so that the good work which the Lord is
accomplishing in your candidates for priestly Orders will be brought
to completion”.

“In this Year of Consecrated Life, my
heart is also close to the men and women religious who have renounced
the world for the sake of the kingdom thus bringing many blessings to
the Church and society in Kenya. … The united and selfless efforts
of many Catholics in Kenya are a beautiful witness and example for
the country. In so many ways, the Church is called to offer hope to
the broader culture, a hope based on her unstinting witness to the
newness of life promised by Christ in the Gospel. In this regard,
without wishing to interfere in temporal affairs, the Church must
insist, especially to those who are in positions of leadership and
power, on those moral principles which promote the common good and
the building up of society as a whole. In the fulfilment of her
apostolic mission, the Church must take a prophetic stand in defence
of the poor and against all corruption and abuse of power. She must
do so, in the first place, by example. … In a particular way, I
wish to offer a word of appreciation to the many humble and dedicated
workers in Church-run institutions throughout your country, whose
daily activities bring spiritual and material benefit to countless
people. The Church has contributed, and continues to contribute, to
all of Kenya through a diverse array of schools, institutes,
universities, clinics, hospitals, homes for the sick and dying,
orphanages and social agencies”.

Pope Francis goes on to emphasise that
“the Church in Kenya must always be true to her mission as an
instrument of reconciliation, justice and peace. In fidelity to the
entire patrimony of the faith and moral teaching of the Church, may
you strengthen your commitment to working with Christian and
non-Christian leaders alike, in promoting peace and justice in your
country through dialogue, fraternity and friendship. In this way you
will be able to offer a more unified and courageous denunciation of
all violence, especially that committed in the name of God. This will
bring deeper reassurance and solace to all your fellow citizens”.
He affirms, “With you, I pray for all those who have been killed by
acts of terror or ethnic or tribal hostilities in Kenya as well as
other areas of the continent. I think most especially of the men and
women killed at Garissa University College on Good Friday. May their
souls rest in peace and their loved ones be consoled, and may those
who commit such brutality come to their senses and seek mercy”.

The Pope encourages the prelates in
their pastoral care for the family, and declares his conviction that
as the Church prepares for the Ordinary Synod dedicated to the
pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelisation
“you will continue to assist and strengthen all those families who
are struggling because of broken marriages, infidelity, addiction or
violence”, and asks them to “intensify the Church’s ministry to
youth, forming them to be disciples capable of making permanent and
life-giving commitments – whether to a spouse in marriage, or to
the Lord in the priesthood or religious life”.

Finally, he prays with them the the
forthcoming Jubilee of Mercy may be “a time of great forgiveness,
healing, conversion, and grace for the entire Church in Kenya” and
that, “touched by Christ’s infinite mercy, may all the faithful
be signs of the reconciliation, justice and peace that God wills for
your country, and indeed, all of Africa”.

Vatican City, 16 April 2015 (VIS) –
The director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi,
S.J., today declared that Pope Francis, accepting the invitation
offered by the respective Heads of State and bishops of these
countries, will make an apostolic trip to Ecuador, from 6 to 8 July,
Bolivia from 8 to 10 July, and Paraguay, from 10 to 12 of the same
month. The programme for the trip will be published shortly.

Vatican City, 16 April 2015 (VIS) -
Officials of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (C.D.F.),
Archbishop Peter Sartain and officers of the Leadership Conference of
Women Religious (L.C.W.R.) met April 16. Archbishop Sartain and
L.C.W.R. officers presented a joint report (attached) on the
implementation of the C.D.F. Doctrinal Assessment and Mandate of
April 2012. The joint report outlines the manner in which the
implementation of the Mandate has been accomplished. The Congregation
accepted the joint report, marking the conclusion of the Doctrinal
Assessment of L.C.W.R. Present for the April 16 meeting were His
Eminence Gerhard Cardinal Muller, Archbishop Peter Sartain, Sr. Carol
Zinn, S.S.J., Sr. Marcia Allen, C.S.J., Sr. Joan Marie Steadman,
C.S.C., and Sr. Janet Mock, C.S.J., and other officials of CDF.

During the meeting, Archbishop Sartain
and L.C.W.R. officers outlined the process undertaken by the Bishop
Delegates and L.C.W.R. over the past three years, noting the spirit
of cooperation among participants throughout the sensitive process.
Cardinal Muller offered his thoughts on the Doctrinal Assessment as
well as the Mandate and its completion. He expressed gratitude to
those present for their willing participation in this important and
delicate work and extended thanks to others who had participated,
especially Archbishop Leonard P. Blair, Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki,
and the past officers and executive directors of L.C.W.R.

Following the meeting, Cardinal Muller
said: “At the conclusion of this process, the Congregation is
confident that L.C.W.R. has made clear its mission to support its
member Institutes by fostering a vision of religious life that is
centred on the person of Jesus Christ and is rooted in the tradition
of the Church. It is this vision that makes religious women and men
radical witnesses to the Gospel, and, therefore, is essential for the
flourishing of religious life in the Church”.

Sr. Sharon Holland, IHM,President of
L.C.W.R., was unable to be present for the meeting but commented, “We
are pleased at the completion of the Mandate, which involved long and
challenging exchanges of our understandings of and perspectives on
critical matters of Religious Life and its practice. Through these
exchanges, conducted always in a spirit of prayer and mutual respect,
we were brought to deeper understandings of one another’s
experiences, roles, responsibilities, and hopes for the Church and
the people it serves. We learned that what we hold in common is much
greater than any of our differences”.

Archbishop Sartain added, “Over the
past several years, I have had the honour of working with L.C.W.R.
officers and meeting a large number of L.C.W.R. members through the
implementation of the Mandate. Our work included the revision of
L.C.W.R. Statutes;review of L.C.W.R. publications, programs and
speakers; and discussion of a wide range of issues raised by the
Doctrinal Assessment, L.C.W.R., and the Bishop Delegates.The
assistance of C.D.F. officials was essential to the great progress we
made. Our work together was undertaken in an atmosphere of love for
the Church and profound respect for the critical place of religious
lifein the United States, and the very fact of such substantive
dialogue between bishops and religious women has been mutually
beneficial and a blessing from the Lord. As we state in our joint
final report, ‘The commitment of L.C.W.R. leadership to its crucial
role in service to the mission and membership of the Conference will
continue to guide and strengthen L.C.W.R.'s witness to the great
vocation of Religious Life, to its sure foundation in Christ, and to
ecclesial communion'. The other two Bishop Delegates and I are
grateful for the opportunity to be involved in such a fruitful
dialogue.”

Vatican City, 16 April 2015 (VIS) –
The Annuarium Pontificium 2015 and the Annuarium Statisticum
Ecclesiae 2013 have been issued this morning. The former reveals some
new aspects of the life of the Church that have emerged between
February 2014 and February 2015, and the latter illustrates the
changes that took place in 2013.

The statistics referring to the year
2013, show the dynamics of the Catholic Church in the world's 2,989
ecclesiastical circumscriptions. It may be seen that in this period
one diocese and two eparchies have been elevated to the level of
metropolitan sees; three new episcopal sees, three eparchies and one
archiepiscopal exarchate have been erected; one territorial prelature
has been elevated to a diocese, and one apostolic prefecture to an
apostolic vicariate.

Since 2005, the number of Catholics
worldwide has increased from 1,115 million to 1,254 million, an
increase of 139 million faithful. During the last two years, the
presence of baptised Catholics in the world has increased from 17.3%
to 17.7%.

There has been a 34% increase in
Catholics in Africa, which has experienced a population increase of
1.9% between 2005 and 2013. The increase of Catholics in Asia (3.2%
in 2013, compared to 2.9% in 2005) has been higher than that of
population growth in Asia. In America Catholics continue to represent
63% of a growing population. In Europe, where the population is
stagnant, there has been a slight increase in the number of baptised
faithful in recent years. The percentage of baptised Catholics in
Oceania remains stable although in a declining population.

From 2012 to 2013 the number of bishops
has increased by 40 from 5,133 to 5,173. In North America and Oceania
there has been a reduction of 6 and 5 bishops respectively, in
contrast to an increase of 23 in the rest of the American continent,
5 in Africa, 14 in Asia and 9 in Europe.

The number of priests, diocesan and
religious, increased from 414,313 in 2012 to 415,348 in 2013.

Candidates to the priesthood –
diocesan and religious – dropped from 120,616 in 2011 to 118,251 in
2013 (-2%). An increase of 1.5% is recorded in Africa, compared to a
decrease of 0.5% in Asia, 3.6% in Europe and 5.2% in North America.

The number of permanent deacons
continues to grow well, passing from 33,391 in 2005 to 43,000 in
2013. They are present in North America and Europe in particular
(96.7%), with the remaining 2.4% distributed between Africa, Asia and
Oceania.

The number of professed religious other
than priests has grown by 1%, from 54,708 in 2005 to 55,000 in 2013.
They have increased in number in Africa by 6% and Asia by 30%, and
decreased in America (2,8%), Europe (10.9%) and Oceania (2%). The
significant reduction in women religious is affirmed: currently
693,575 compared to 760,529 in 2005: -18.3% in Europe, -17.1 % in
Oceania, and -15.5 in America. However, an increase of 18% in Africa
and 10% in Asia is recorded.

Vatican City, 16 April 2015 (VIS) –
The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff today
announced that on Sunday, 19 April at 11.30 a.m., Cardinal Francesco
Montenegro, archbishop of Agrigento, Italy, will take possession of
the title of Santi Andrea e Gregorio al Monte Celio (Piazza San
Gregorio, 1).

- appointed Msgr. Werner Freistetter as
military ordinary of Austria (priests 12, permanent deacons 3,
religious 4), Austria. The bishop-elect was born in Linz, Austria in
1953 and was ordained a priest in 1979. He studied theology in Vienna
and in Rome at the Germanic-Hungarian College, and has held a number
of pastoral roles, including parish vicar and parish priest in
Vienna, assistant at the Institute of Ethical and Social Sciences at
the Catholic Faculty of the University of Vienna, collaborator in the
Pontifical Council for Culture, and member of the Holy See
Representation at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (O.S.C.E.). He is currently director of the Institut fur
Religion und Friede and episcopal vicar of the Austrian Military
Ordinariate, and spiritual assistant of the Catholic International
Military Apostolate. He succeeds Bishop Christian Werner, whose
resignation from the pastoral care of the same military ordinary in
accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

- appointed Msgr. Wilhelm Krautwaschl
as bishop of Graz-Seckau (area 16,401, population 1,210,971,
Catholics 853,594, priests 449, permanent deacons 69, religious 722),
Austria. The bishop-elect was born in Gleisdorf, Austria in 1963 and
was ordained a priest in 1990. He holds a doctorate in theology from
the University of Graz, and has served as deputy priest and parish
priest in numerous parishes in the diocese of Graz-Seckau, and as
dean of the deanery of Bruck an der Mur. He is currently rector of
the seminary of Graz and responsible for vocational pastoral
ministry, and judge at the diocesan tribunal.